Create Peace starting from Within through love, meditation, compassion and zen living...

Empower Peace is the place to find and learn about achieving inner Peace through the practice of love, meditation, compassion and zen living.

Meditation: Good for Believers and Non-Believers

Dozens of times a day, athiests pray to god and devout believers in God deny His existence. Everyone, including athiests, subconsciously and consciously say things like “I hope this will happen” or “I hope that won’t occur.” This magical thinking is a form of prayer and all prayer implies a belief in a higher power who is able to receive the prayer and grant its request. Similarly, when anyone, even a person who professes belief in a God, expresses a belief that evil will overcome good or even that there is something “wrong” in their life, they have in fact denied their God’s omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, etc.

Taking these odd truths as further demonstration that the average person is very much in need of alot of inner help that only meditation brings, it is the position of the Meditation Society of America that a practicioner need not believe in God to gain benefits from meditation. In fact, by meditating, an athiest could become aware of their hypocritical prayers and a believer could see the contradictory nature of their verbalizations of doubts about God.

There are many meditation techniques, such as the “Prayer Meditation”, that have been handed down through the centuries specifically to unite the meditator with his God, to teach him how to serve Him or Her better, or some such goal that would be inapplicable to an athiestic practicioner. So, although some of the techniques may mention God, it is the position of the Meditation Society of America to neither encourage or discourage anyone, of any belief or religious background from using or agreeing to any of the methods or concepts we share. We simply want to make them available and hope they will help.

As has been expressed many times, in may ways, by many wise beings, there are many paths to Peace. We’ll to show them to you and will never imply that any one of them is the best or only one. As you grow and evolve in consciousness, the entire universe gains and evolves as well, so we all benefit.

Meditation is the best way to achieve this growth and evolution and we suggest you try it and hope you find it beneficial.

Empowerment is the process of increasing the capacity of individuals to make choices and to transform those choices into desired actions and outcomes.

For so long we have been learning our life lessons, plugging away at growing, onwards and upwards, ever striving and ever thriving…

Most of us have to-do lists. Many of us have long terms goals.

Few of us have a list of how we actually want to feel in our life.

And aren’t feelings the whole point? Positive Feeling brings us positive outcomes in our personal life and professional goals.

HOW DO YOU WANT TO FEEL IN THE CORE AREAS OF YOUR LIFE?

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And so it goes that a solid make-it-happen plan should be grounded in the awareness of how you want to feel. It’s the elemental point that most action plans and goal setting systems ignored.

The problem is that the disintegrate many of us suffer from can’t be fixed by a holiday at the beach, or a visit to a day-spa. Because it’s not just our body that’s exhausted, it’s your essence.

Discover that Wisdom within You that brings out your highest Self and Potential

Once you join Empower Peace, you will receive emails with lessons, daily affirmations and practical suggestions of how to explore the day’s particular focus.

In addition, you will learn about our workshops, online lessons and scheduling private sessions.

About Jane Morales

Jane Morales is a Certified Meditation Master & Holistic Counselor.

She holds a BS in Marketing from Bentley University in Boston and a Master of Science in Communications from Boston University. She is also working on her thesis in Vedic Sciences and a book on Meditation for Adults & Children.

In addition to her higher education, she trained in The Power of Intention, Positive Affirmations, Self-healing, Instant Inner Power, Theta DNA Healing and Living your own Success.

Prior to becoming a Meditation & Holistic Counselor, Jane worked for 10 years in the television industry with Telemundo Network and NBC Network as producer and entertainment news anchor. After years in the TV industry, she held the position of Communications Director for Cartier Jewelers International in charge of the Latin American markets. Several years later she began her own organization while training in the areas of Self Empowerment and Living in a Positive Dimension.

Jane has her practice specializing individual goal setting, parent to children relations and personal goal achievement. She works with individuals, families and children. She is founder of EmpowerPeace.com spreading techniques on how to achieve harmony & happiness in life.

03/11/2015

So this journey begins with a "slap on my face". Many have called me a peaceful person, the guru in creating harmony or the most easy going when it comes to day to day activities. However, this comes at a perfect time just when I begin this blog named EmpowerPeace. (The name came to me in the middle of the night at around 2 or 3 AM...trying to avoid an Exorcism of Emily Rose moment)

Why a slap on my face? As I begin this journal to share humble teachings on life, empowerment, wisdom, motivation and many other thoughts of practice, I realize that my journey is an ongoing one of growing each day. I have yet a lot to conquer to be at the place of total harmony that I am looking to reach. It is harmony as a woman, mother, wife, friend and individual on this Earth.

These last two weeks, while I have been out of my comfort zone traveling with my husband and children, I have not been on my best behavior simply because I have not slept well, I have had to handle the three kids without a daily routine and I have not had my much needed quiet time.

It is during situations like this one that I have to be most aware that every thought in my mind is a creation in process. Every thought in my mind can be constructive or destructive. Every thought in my mind can create harmony or war. Moments like this is when I realize that the sole responsibility of my family's comfort and happiness depends on my self-control. This is when I must practice more than ever being in "healthy" state of being. It is very simple. After all the nice clothes, make-up, fancy shoes, beautiful house, fabulous trips and events, the emotional stability of my family depends on me. Yes, the emotional stability of our families depend on us WOMEN.

We don't have to be married or even be mothers to have such responsibilities. Just the fact of being born female is enough to grant us the title of leaders of love, peace and harmony. It is us that will create a good atmosphere in our homes and it is us and only us the ones that will make our world turn in the right direction. It is no-one else's responsibility to bring happiness to our lives.

I love my husband and three sons dearly and they truly complete me. Even though I will raise my boys the old fashion way teaching them about chivalry, love, responsibility, total respect to the opposite sex and knowing that we are all equal, I already feel for the women in their lives. They will have to come well-equipped with high self-esteem, solid careers/goals and great love for themselves. These are solid attributes that will help them live with great happiness and fulfillment. The rest of the experiences in their lives will come as a compliment and as a product of their creations based on their mind control and thought process.

After all, the slap on my face has been nothing more than a reminder that I could not be happier with what I have created in my life. Even though I have not slept well or have not had any quiet time in two weeks; it is all I have wanted. I wish I could stop time to savor the contrast of these moments because I know that in a couple of years it will just be a memory.

Why do people usually walk away from arguments wanting to have the last word and hold on to it forever?

There is something extremely liberating and powerful that happens when you are able to humble yourself in front of another person and accept responsibility for your actions. The clearing & cleaning you do to your soul when opening up and letting your real self come out at a point when your ego wants to take over is the key to living your heaven on earth.

After all the only way to live in heaven is by creating it ourselves. This is our given chance to live the best way we can and I don't mean material things. I mean creating a heaven inside of us, in our hearts where we feel honest with ourselves and sincere with the people around us.

How do we strip ourselves down from all the layers of dirt that cover us and prevent us from showing our real self? Only daily practive will do it. Searching inside of us and building a relationship with ourselves will help us

"I was so angry when I missed the goal. My teammates tried to cheer me up, but I snapped at them." –Luis, age 13

"I can't stop all the thoughts in my head. They go so fast and sometimes they say bad things, like 'You're going to fail the test.'"—Heather, age 11

"When my friends didn't invite me to hang out with them, I felt so sad until I went up to my room and cut my arm."—Emily, age 15

What is Mindfulness?

"Mindfulness" is a practice based on Eastern philosophy that is becoming increasingly common, cropping up in public school classrooms and the work place as well as in the media. What is it, and how can it help kids and families?

Mindfulness has been incorporated into a number of therapeutic approaches for both adults and children with mental and physical health issues, dialectical behavior therapy being one of them, and studies have proven it to be an effective part of treatment (more on this later). But anyone can practice mindfulness, and anyone may benefit from it. In our often overscheduled lives, it's a way to press "Pause" and take a step back. When we dive back in to our busy days, it may be with new insight, greater awareness, and a fresh perspective. In this way, it helps many people to stop and think before they react.

The term "mindfulness" was pioneered by an American psychotherapist named Jon Kabat-Zinn who wrote the seminal book on the subject, "Wherever You Go, There You Are." Kabat-Zinn took the Eastern practice of meditation, most closely associated with Buddhism, and adapted it to be free of religious philosophy, and thus appropriate for people from all backgrounds.

When people think of mediation, they might picture Buddhist monks in brightly colored robes sitting in a mountain temple somewhere, perfectly still with eyes closed, or possibly chanting. Or perhaps they picture people more like their neighbors, but gathered at a special time and place specifically designated for quiet contemplation.

Kabat-Zinn's book emphasizes that mindfulness can be practiced anywhere, at any moment. It can involve various forms of meditation, and he encourages this. But it can also simply entail a different way of being in the world as we go about our days. At its most basic, mindfulness means paying attention to the present moment, and being as aware as possible of how we're feeling, both in terms of bodily sensations and emotions, and what's going on around us.

It Takes Practice

There's a reason mindfulness is referred to as a "practice." Anyone who has tried it knows it's a lot harder than it might sound. Human beings have a natural tendency to spend a lot of time not in the present moment. Rather, we spend a lot of time in our heads, thinking about the past or the future--what we're having for dinner, what we're going to do over the weekend, the comment our child's teacher made last week about his behavior in class, or how we could have responded to it better.

Some theories have it that humans evolved with this orientation toward the past and the future because our hunter ancestors were much slower, and their senses less acute, than those of their animal counterparts. In order to hunt successfully, and thus survive, we had to rely on tracking (the past) and predicting (the future) movements of our prey, rather than on sensory perception and speed.

Whatever the reason, the tendency of our minds to wander backward and forward in time is a trait all humans have in common. If you have tried meditation and found your mind wandering, you're far from alone. So what can we do to curb our propensity to drift from the present? Learning more about mindfulness, and beginning to put some simple practices in play in our everyday lives are a good start.

Mindfulness is generally thought to involve three main components:

Intention: A quality of consciously choosing and directing ourselves to be mindful, or "in the moment."

Attention: A sustained focus, either on something specific (our breath) or something more broad (being open and receptive to sights and sounds as we walk through a park, or down a busy street).

Attitude: A nonjudgmental approach to our sensations in the moment; a key part of mindfulness is accepting our sensations and feelings without commenting on them or wanting to change them. Patience, non-judgment, acceptance, trust, non-striving, curiosity, and kindliness have been identified as attitudes that provide a good foundation for mindfulness.

Let's look at how the three components above can be put into practice. By intentionally taking time on a regular basis to focus on the present moment, without judging what happens or what we feel, we may begin to see patterns in our habits, thoughts, perceptions and reactions. We may also begin to see our thoughts and feelings as passing, and not permanent, and gain a new perspective from which we can observe and reflect, rather than reacting to them.

This time can take the form of a formal meditation practice. Seated, walking, and movement meditations are some of the most common, and they can all be done in the home. If you are new to the practice, there are many videos and audio guides available online for free, as well as in libraries and bookstores.

But we can start to practice mindfulness without meditation. It can simply mean taking a break from multi-tasking. Try focusing attention on just one activity, like bathing, eating, working in the garden, or feeling your body in motion as you walk or ride a bike. We may be surprised at what we notice when we keep our attention on what we're doing in the moment.

What are the benefits?

Kabat-Zinn was one of the first to take the concept of mindfulness he helped develop and incorporate it into a course of therapeutic treatment, called Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Since then, it has been proven to be an effective part of treatment for a variety of conditions, from chronic pain and cancer in adults, to ADHD in initial studies with kids, who have been shown to be more attentive and less impulsive and hyperactive.

All the research studies conducted thus far included meditation practices lead by a trained professional. If your child has a mental health disorder, ask your caregiver whether mindfulness-based therapies could form an effective part of his or her treatment. If you're interested in reading more about recent research, see the "Sources" and "Resources" sections at the bottom of this article.

As mentioned earlier, mindfulness training is not just for those undergoing treatment for mental or physical illness. Many schools have incorporated mindfulness teachings into their curricula, and anecdotal evidence from school professionals says that it reaps rewards in educational as well as therapeutic settings. Teachers and principals report kids who are more focused and ready to learn, and less reactive to stress and to their peers. (NY Times, Greater Good).

It follows that all families may benefit from working some simple, mindfulness based techniques and practices into their daily routines.

What parents can do: Mindfulness at home

Here are a few simple forms of mindfulness practice you can try with your kids.

Lie on your backs with a stuffed animal or pillow on your bellies. Focus on your breathing for a minute or two. Remember, you don't need to change your breathing—just observe the breath as it occurs naturally. The animal or pillow will help you be aware of the rise and fall. When it's time to stop, take a moment to check in with your child and talk about how you both felt before and after. If your mind starts to wander (and inevitably it will!), try to be aware of it and bring yourself back to the focus on your breathing.

Find a place to sit with your child for a few minutes. It could be a public or private space, indoors or outside. Ask your child to focus on what she hears in the surrounding area and explain you'll do the same. You can close your eyes or keep them open, depending on what's most comfortable, but try to pay attention to sounds. After a minute or so, talk about what you heard. What stands out most? How did various sounds make you feel (calm, happy, annoyed, scared?). Did they bring up memories or associations? Remember not to judge. There are no right or wrong answers.

Practice following an itch. Sit or lie down, and take a moment to bring your attention to an itch anywhere on your body, but don't scratch it. Attend to the sensation; does it wax and wane in intensity? Does it go away? Try to stay focused on it. Also be aware of judgments; if there is no itch, don't judge yourself, simply scan your body and make note of that.

When driving or walking home one day, try to make it a mindful practice. Don't call a friend or family member, or even listen to music. Simply notice what is in front of you (or around you) and describe what you see. Take note of when and how long your mind wanders and attempt to keep bringing your focus back each time this happens for the duration of the walk or ride home. You can prompt your child or teen to do the same, either with you, or on their own.

When you see your child doing three things at once—doing homework, listening to music, and instant messaging with friends, for instance—remind him to take a moment and focus on one thing at a time. This could mean just closing his eyes and really listening to the song he's playing on his headphones; stopping to actually call his friend and spend five minutes chatting about how they are, giving the conversation his full attention; or taking a break to go outside or just sit quietly and focus on his breathing for a minute.

Kabat-Zinn cautions his readers not to expect instant results from mindfulness practice. It's not a magic cure-all for worry, stress, or anything else. If you do it with a specific goal, you'll likely be disappointed; mindfulness is by definition not a goal-oriented pursuit. With this in mind, all that remains is to try it for yourself and see what happens.

Alexandra DeGeorge, PsyD, is a former clinician at the NYU Child Study Center. Article originally published August 2011.

10/09/2014

The more positive the thoughts flowing through my mind, the more contented I will feel. It is easy to feel contented when we are praised and appreciated but to remain contented when we are being critised and rejected is the mark of real spiritual strength. The way to develop this level of strength is to learn about God's way of loving. Only when I am in deep contemplation can I see God showing me the kind of love I need to express so that I myself never reject or critise and always generate good wishes for others. Then I will feel satisfied no matter what life throws at me.

10/06/2014

Acts of virtue emerge from deep within, from an inner sanctuary of silence from which inspiration flows. Every action has its seed in a thought and every thought is a creation of the thinker, the soul. I choose what thoughts I want to create and as is my thinking so are my actions and also my experience in life. Going within, I touch the stillness and pure love that lie at the core of my being and every thought that I create is of benefit to myself and of benefit to humanity.